Sunday, May 20, 2012

Busy, but in a good way!

Katie and I are entrenched in wedding plans! Praise God they are all going well!

There are so many details in planning a wedding and then when we add in 8 wonderful little children...

it makes it even that much more challenging!

Yes, I am aware of my exclamation marks! And, if I wasn't my dear Kate would point them out!

We picked up Anna, Ava and Abby's dresses- they were adorable! Still waiting on Sarah, Emma and Ellie's dresses.

Sam and Luke will need to get mini tuxes and we are waiting for the bride and groom to pick out the style...

Yes, I am hinting to the bride and groom!

Along with all the BIG plans our normal life goes on.

Sam, Anna and Ava are now red stripers and will moving onto the big kids program very soon.

Luke and Abby are expressing an interest in karate.When they first came home they wanted nothing to do with it.I feel like it is a sign of improved health, confidence and bonding.

It is so cute watching them practice and teach each other!

Luke is 6 plus weeks post op and doing fantastic!

He is running around, climbing and commenting on how fast he is!

We will hopefully get them started in karate after the wedding.

We never have been big karate people but it has been so good for our newly adopted children.

It helps with muscle development, self control, respect and brian development (memory with coordination) as they learn and put together the moves. It is not overly competitive or threatening to them in any way.

So for now it is working for us and them!

PLUS, they are just so cute!

and proud of their accomplishments!

Sarah is in advanced blue belt and Ellie is a blue belt.

We went to the play "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon".

It was more advanced for the children but they still loved it!!

We had purchased the book and intended to read it but... I lost it and it is nowhere to be found!

No worries, I put it in a very special place! AND we will figure out where that special place is A.W.

that means "after the wedding"!

Another big event is Johnny's graduation!

I have been doing fine with it until I heard the song "Forever Young" and pictured our boy as a kindergartener.

The tears came...

They grow up way to fast as far as I am concerned...

Today was the baccalaureate mass and it was wonderful!

In two weeks will be the graduation ceremony.

After the mass we went to Johnny's friend grad party.

He has the nicest friends!

We have been blessed by these wonderful big kids!

They love our new little children!

We had a few rules before we arrived!No hovering over the food.When you see Carter say, "Congratulations Carter"!(they asked, WHY? So cute!)No running around, use your best manners!The kids were GREAT!Whew!

Sarah and Hubby went to the last cotillion gathering.They had so much fun together and they even danced!God has been so good to us!It is a busy time of our lives and HE has provided us peace!I pray my way through each day and I know who is in control!I am so thankful to HIM!

Whew! You make my life sound peaceful and right now it's anything but. Dance recital, 8th grade banquet, birthdays etc. Plus, trying to get home study paperwork together. You have inspired me to go after two children this time. I know it's not as easy as you make it look but our agency has two toddler siblings that would like to be adopted together. How can I say no to that?

Am Karen Lola from Scotland. I was having serious relationship problems with my boyfriend and it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment. Everything got worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently with his friend, getting drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on phone whenever I call him because of all the bad advises that his friend has given him. I really love him and we had been dating for 8 years which gave us a beautiful daughter. I had also lost a lot of money on therapists until I was introduced to Dr. Trust by a friend whom he helped to marry her childhood boyfriend; this gave me total confidence and strength to get him back. I did all he asked and after 48 hours my boyfriend called me and rushed back home, things just changed between us emotionally. He has a job and stopped drinking and keeping irrelevant friends. It’s a miracle I never believed was possible because I had lost all hope until I found Dr.Trust. So that’s why I promised to share my testimony all over the universe. All thanks goes to Dr.Trust for the excessive work that he has done for me. Below is the email address in situation you are undergoing a heart break, and I assure you that as he has done mine for me, he will definitely help you too. Ultimatespellcastgmail.com or ultimatespellcast@yahoo.com call him +2348156885231

About Me

Jim and I have been married for 33 plus years. He is the love of my life and my best friend! We have 5 older birth children and we are adding to our family through the blessings of adoption. We love the Lord Jesus and it is our mission to serve him. We have stumbled along the way but he continues to pick us up and send us on the journey he has planned for us. We are very thankful for that!

Email me!

I love to hear from bloggy readers! However, due to adopting so many treasures and homeschooling them it is challenging for me to find the time to email back. I will try but I can't guarantee I will be able to get back to you. This season will pass and in the future I look forward to being able to answer back! Thank you for your understanding!

jean.mulvahill@gmail.com

Friends to Share With!

Matt and Caitlin

Matt (32 yrs old) and Caitlin were married on June 28th, 2014! They live and work in Denver, CO. Matt is working as a biostatistician for Denver Childrens Hospital. Caitlin is a special needs preschool teacher at one of the school districts in Denver. They have a precious little girl named Elodie!

Katie, Andrew, and Emily

Katie (30 yrs) and Andrew were married on July 6th, 2012! They live in Alexandria, Virginia. They have two daughters, Emily 2.5 yrs and Ali 10 months old!

Billy

Billy is 28 yrs old! He has his masters in accounting and works at a local accounting firm. Billy and Mark have a house about 15 miles away! It's so nice to have him nearby!

Mark

Mark is 26 yrs old. He is currently working on his masters in business through the Carlson School of Business. We are so happy he is finally living in the same city that we are in!

Johnny

Johnny is 22 yrs old. He is attending the University of St Thomas in St Paul, MN. He is playing for the Tommies soccer team!

Sarah Grace

Sarah is 16 yrs old. She came home in December 2008!

Emma Joy

Emma is 15 yrs old and came home in mid July 2010 along with her biological sister Ellie!

Ella Mei

Ellie is 13 yrs old and came home with her bio sister Emma in mid July 2010!

Mia Christine

Mia is 14 yrs old! She came home on February 2nd, 2013!

Ava Marie

Ava is 10 yrs old! She has been home since April 1st, 2011!

Melissa Faith

Melissa is 10 yrs old! She came home from China in early February 2013!

Abigail Elizabeth

Abby is 10 yrs old! She came home in December 2011!

Anna Violet

Anna is 10 yrs old. She has been home since August of 2007!

Benjamin David

Ben is 10 yrs old. He came home from China in early December 2013!

Samuel Jacob

Sam is 9 yrs old. He has been home since April 1st, 2011!

Madeline Mary

Madeline is 9 yrs old. She came home from China in early February 2013!

Joseph Michael

Joey is 7 yrs old! He came home with his new brother Ben this past December 2013!

Luke Lewis

Luke is 7 yrs old! He is our youngest! He came home in December 2011!

Quick Update On Us!

Hubby and I have 5 bio kids that are currently 21-31 yrs old. As our bio children were leaving the nest we felt called to serve our Lord through the blessings of adoption!

We have adopted 13 waiting children from China! Anna came home first on August 8th, 2007 (at 16 months). She is currently 9 yrs old! Sarah came home on December 5th, 2008 (at 8.5 yrs old). She is 15 yrs old now. Emma and Ellie came home on July 19th, 2010! They are bio sibs, and were 8 and 10 yrs old when they came home! They are now 14 and 12 yrs old. Next we brought home Sam at 4.5 yrs old and Ava Marie at 5.5 yrs old at the time of their adoption. They came home on April 1st, 2011 and are now 8.5 yrs and 10 yrsold.! Both of the kids are from Henan Province.

On our 5th adoption trip we journeyed to Abby and Luke. They came home at 5.5 and 3 yrs old. They have adjusted well! They are currently 9 and 6 years old!

We will traveled back to China for adoption trip #6 in January 2013. This time God blessed us with 3 lovely daughters from China! Mia is 12 years old, Melissa is 9 years old and Madeline is 8 years old now. We feel so very blessed to have these darling girls in our family!

Our 7th and last adoption trip to China was to bring home our two boys- Ben 7 yrs and Joseph 5 yrs. The boys are now 9 and 6.5 yrs old

We have had many many procedures and surgeries over the years, God has been so very kind and they have been amazingly successful!! We still have more surgeries in our future and we will rely on HIM and pray our way through.

Hubby and I are passionate about special needs adoption. We feel called to adopt and we are loving every minute of it! We are both in our mid to late 50's. We can't think of anything we would love to do more than what we are doing right now! We are thankful for this opportunity to enjoy these wonderful children!

We have chosen to home school our children from China. When adopting older children they really don't fit into one grade, they are combination of many grades (including 2nd in math but Pre-k in reading/phonics). We also feel like we missed out on so many years with our wonderful children, we don't want to miss out on any more! Plus it is great for attachment and bonding!!

If you are considering adoption feel free to email or message me with any questions you may have!